DETERMINATION OF AGGREGATE IMPACT

VALUE
Object -. This method of test covers the procedure for determining the
aggregate impact value of coarse aggregate. (The aggregate impact value
gives a relative measure of the resistance of an aggregate to sudden shock or
impact, which in some aggregates differs from Its resis tance to a slow
compressive load.)
Apparatus - The apparatus shall consist of the following:
a) An impact testing machine of the general form and complying with the
following: 1) Total weight not more than 60 kg nor less than 45 kg. 2) The
machine shall have a metal base weighing between 22 and 30 kg with a plane
lower surface of not less than 30 cm diameter, and shall be supported on a level
and plane concrete or stone block or floor at least 45 cm thick. The machine shall
be prevented from rocking either by fixing it to the block or floor or by supporting
it on a level and plane metal plate cast into the surface of the block or floor. 3) A
cylindrical steel cup of internal dimensions: Diameter 102 mm Depth 50 mm and
not less than 6.3 mm thick with its inner surface case- hardened, that can be
rigidly fastened at the centre of the base and easily removed for emptying. 4) A
metal tup or hammer weighing 13.5 to 14.0 kg, the lower end of which shall be
cylindrical in shape, 100.0 mm in diameter and 5 cm long, with a 2-mm chamfer
at the lower edge, and case-hardened. The hammer shall slide freely between
vertical guides so arranged that the lower (cylindrical) part of the hammer is
above and concentric with the cup. 5) Means for raising the hammer and
allowing it to fall freely between the vertical guides from a height of 38OA5.0 mm
on to the test sample in the cup, and means for adjusting the hseight of fall
within 5 mm. 6) Means for supporting the hammer whilst fastening or removing
the cup
b) Sieves-The IS Sieves of sizes 12.5, 10 and 2.36 mm.
c) Measure - A cylindrical metal measure, tared to the nearest gram, of sufficient
rigidity to retain its form under rough usage, and of the following internal
dimensions : Diameter 75 mm Depth 50 mm
d) Tamping Rod-A straight metal tamping rod of circular cross-section 10 mm in
diameter and 230 mm long, rounded at one end.
e) Balance - A balance of capacity not less than 500 g, readable and accurate to
0.1 g.
f) Oven - A well-ventilated oven, thermostatically controlled to maintain a
temperature of 100 to 110C.
Preparation of the Test Sample: The test sample shall consist of aggregate
the whole of which passes a 12.5-mm IS Sieve and is retained on a IO-mm IS

Sieve. The aggregate comprising the test sample shall be dried in an oven for a
period of four hours at a temperature of 100 to 110C and cooled. 4.3.2 The
measure shall be filled about one-third full with the aggregate and tamped with
25 strokes of the rounded end of the tamping rod.
further similar quantity of aggregate shall be added and a further tamping of 25
strokes given. The measure shall finally be fined to overtlowmg, tamped 25 times
and the surplus aggregate struck off, using the tamping rod as a straight-edge.
The net weight of aggregate in the measure shall be determined to the nearest
gram (Weight A) and this weight of aggregate shall be used for the duplicate test
on the same material.
4.4 Test Procedure
The impact machine shall rest without wedgirrg or packing upon the level plate,
block or floor, so that it is rigid and the hammer guide columns are vertical. 4.4.2
The cup shall be fixed firmly in position on the base of the machine and the
whole of the test sample placed in it and compacted by a single tamping of 25
strokes of the tamping rod. 4.4.3 The hammer shall be raised until its lower face
is 380 mm above the upper surface of the aggregate in the cup, and allowed to
fall freely on to the aggregate. The test sample shall be subjected to a total of 15
such blows each being delivered at an interval of not less than one second. 4.4.4
The crushed aggregate shall then be removed from the cup and the whole of it
sieved on the 2*36-mm IS Sieve until no further significant amount passes in one
minute. The fraction passing the sieve shall be weighed to an accuracy of 0.1 g
(Weight. e). The fraction retained on the sieve shall also be weighed (Weight C)
and, if the total weight (E+Y) is less than the initial weight (Weight A) by more
than one gram, the result shall be discarded and a fresh test made. Two tests
shall be made.
Calculations .-The ratio of the weight of fines formed to the total sample weight
in each test shall he expressed as a percentage, the result being recorded to the
first decimal place:
Aggregate impact value = (B/A) x 100
where R=\veight of fraction passing 2.36-mm IS Sieve, and A =weight of ovendried sample. 4.6 Reporting of Results - The mean of the two results shall be
reported

INITIAL AND FINAL SETTLING TIME

OBJECTIVE To determine the initial and final setting times of cement.

TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY
The temperature of moulding room, dry materials and water shall be maintained
at 27 2C. The relative humidity of the laboratory shall be 65 5 percent.
APPARATUS:
Vicat Apparatus Vicat apparatus conforming to IS : 5513-1976*.
Balance The balance shall conform to the following requirements: On balance
in use, the permissible variation at a load of 1 000 g shall be 1.0 g. The
permissible variation on new balance shall be one-half of this value. The
sensibility reciprocal shall be not greater than twice the permissible variation.
Gauging Trowel Gauging trowel conforming to IS : 10086-1982*.
PROCEDURE
Preparation of Test Block Prepare a neat cement paste by gauging the
cement with 0.85 times the water required to give a paste of standard

consistency. Potable or distilled water shall be used in preparing the paste. The
paste shall be gauged in the manner and under the conditions prescribed in IS :
4031 (Part 4)- 1988. Start a stop-watch at the instant when water is added to
the cement. Fill the Vicat mould E with a cement paste gauged as above, the
mould resting on a nonporous plate. Fill the mould completely and smooth off the
surface of the paste making it level with the top of the mould. The cement block
thus prepared in the mould is the test block.
Immediately after moulding, place the test block in the moist closet or moist
room and allow it to remain there except when determinations of time of setting
are being made.
Determination of Initial Setting Time Place the test block confined in the
mould and resting on the non-porous plate, under the rod bearing the needle
( C ); lower the needle gently until it comes in contact with the surface of the test
block and quickly release, allowing it to penetrate into the test block. In. the
beginning, the needle will completely pierce the test block. Repeat this
procedure until the needle, when brought in contact with the test block and
released as described above, fails to pierce the block beyond 5.0 0.5 mm
measured from the bottom of the mould. The period elapsing between the time
when water is added to the cement and the time at which the needle fails to
pierce the test block to a point 5.0 0.5 mm measured from the bottom of the
mould shall be the initial setting time.
Determination of Final Setting Time Replace the needle ( C ) of the Vicat
apparatus by the needle with an annular attachment ( F ). The cement shall be
considered as finally set when, upon applying the needle gently to the surface of
the test block, the needle makes an impression thereon, while the attachment
fails to do so. The period elapsing between the time when water is added to the
cement and the time at which the needle makes an impression on the surface of
test block while the attachment fails to do so shall be the final setting time. In
the event of a scum forming on the surface of the test block, use the underside
of the block for the determination.

STANDARD CONSISTENCY OF
CEMENT
OBJECTIVE To determine the quantity of water required to produce a cement
paste of standard consistency.

TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY : The temperature of moulding room, dry

materials and water shall be maintained at 272C. The relative humidity of the
laboratory shall be 65 5 percent.
APPARATUS
Vicat Apparatus -Vicat apparatus conforming to IS : 5513-1976*.
Balance - The balance shall conform to the following requirements.
Gauging Trowel - Gauging trowel conforming to IS IO086 : 1982PROCEDURE : The standard consistency of a cement paste is defined as that
consistency which will permit the Vicat plunger to penetrate to a point 5 to 7
mm from the bottom of the Vicat mould when the cement paste is tested as
described below.
Prepare a paste of weighed quantity of Cement with a weighed quantity of
potable or distilled water, taking care that the time of gauging is not less than 3
minutes, nor more than 5 min, and the gauging shall be completed before any
sign of setting occurs. The gauging time shall be counted from the time of adding
water to the dry cement until commencing to fill the mould. Fill the Vicat mould
with this paste, the mould resting upon a non-porous plate. After completely
filling the mould, smoothen the surface of the paste, making it level with the top
of the mould. The mould may be slightly shaken to expel the air.
Clean appliances shall be used for gauging. In filling the mould, the operators
hand and the blade of the gauging trowel shall alone be used.
Place the test block in the mould, together with the non-porous resting plate,
under the rod bearing the plunger; lower the plunger gently to touch the surface
of the test block, and quickly release, allowing it to sink into the paste. This
operation shah be carried out immediately after filling the mould.
Prepare trial pastes with varying percentages of water and test as described
above until the amount of water necessary for making up the standard
consistency as defined is found.

COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH TEST

Out of many test applied to the concrete, this is the utmost important
which gives an idea about all the characteristics of concrete. By this single
test one judge that whether Concreting has been done properly or not.
Compressive strength of concrete depends on many factors such as
water-cement ratio, cement strength, quality of concrete material, quality
control during production of concrete etc.
Test for compressive strength is carried out either on cube or cylinder.
Various standard codes recommends concrete cylinder or concrete cube
as the standard specimen for the test.
For cube test two types of specimens either cubes of 15 cm X 15 cm X 15
cm or 10cm X 10 cm x 10 cm depending upon the size of aggregate are
used. For most of the works cubical moulds of size 15 cm x 15cm x 15 cm
are commonly used.
This concrete is poured in the mould and tempered properly so as not to
have any voids. After 24 hours these moulds are removed and test
specimens are put in water for curing. The top surface of these specimen
should be made even and smooth. This is done by putting cement paste
and spreading smoothly on whole area of specimen.
These specimens are tested by compression testing machine after 7 days
curing or 28 days curing. Load should be applied gradually at the rate of
140 kg/cm2 per minute till the Specimens fails. Load at the failure divided
by area of specimen gives the compressive strength of concrete.

The proportion and material for making these test specimens are from the
same concrete used in the field.
HAND MIXING
(i)Mix the cement and fine aggregate on a water tight none-absorbent
platform until the mixture is thoroughly blended and is of uniform color
(ii)Add the coarse aggregate and mix with cement and fine aggregate
until the coarse aggregate is uniformly distributed throughout the batch
(iii)Add water and mix it until the concrete appears to be homogeneous
and of the desired consistency
SAMPLING
(i) Clean the mounds and apply oil
(ii) Fill the concrete in the molds in layers approximately 5cm thick
(iii) Compact each layer with not less than 35strokes per layer using a
tamping rod (steel bar 16mm diameter and 60cm long, bullet pointed at
lower end)
(iv) Level the top surface and smoothen it with a trowel
CURING
The test specimens are stored in moist air for 24hours and after this
period the specimens are marked and removed from the molds and kept
submerged in clear fresh water until taken out prior to test.
PROCEDURE
(I) Remove the specimen from water after specified curing time and wipe
out excess water from the surface.
(II) Take the dimension of the specimen to the nearest 0.2m
(III) Clean the bearing surface of the testing machine

(IV) Place the specimen in the machine in such a manner that the load
shall be applied to the opposite sides of the cube cast.
(V) Align the specimen centrally on the base plate of the machine.
(VI) Rotate the movable portion gently by hand so that it touches the top
surface of the specimen.
(VII) Apply the load gradually without shock and continuously at the rate
of 140kg/cm2/minute till the specimen fails
(VIII) Record the maximum load and note any unusual features in the
type of failure.
NOTE
Minimum three specimens should be tested at each selected age. If
strength of any specimen varies by more than 15 per cent of average
strength, results of such specimen should be rejected. Average of there
specimens gives the crushing strength of concrete. The strength
requirements of concrete.
In case of compressive test of cement the preparation of cubes is done in
a different manner than the above mentioned method. In this case
70.6 mm moulds are used for casting instead of 150mm moulds.However
basic procedure remains same.
PROCEDURE
Take 200gm of cement and 600gm of standard sand in the proportion 1:3
by weight) in a pan. (The standard sand shall be of quartz, of light, gray
or whitish variety and shall be free from silt. The sand grains shall be
angular, the shape of grains approximating to the spherical form,
elongated and flattened grains being present only in very small quantities.
Standard sand shall pass through 2mm IS sieve and shall be retained on
90 microns IS sieve with the following particle size distribution.

Mix the cement and sand in dry condition with a trowel for 1minitues and
then add water. The quantity of water shall be (p/4+3)% of combined
weight of cement and sand where, p is the % of water required to
produce a paste of standard consistency determined earlier. Add water
and mix it until the mixture is of uniform colour. The time of mixing shall
not be < 3 minutes & not > 4 minutes. Immediately after mixing the
mortar, place the mortar in the cube mould and prod with the help of the
rod. The mortar shall be prodded 20 times in about 8 sec to ensure
elimination of entrained air. If vibrator is used, the period of vibration
shall be 2minitues at the specified speed of 12000+-400 vibrations
/minutes. Then place the cube moulds in temperature of 272 o C and 90%
relative humidity for 24 hours. After 24 hours remove the cubes from the
mould and immediately submerge in clean water till testing. Take out the
cubes from water just before testing. Testing should be done on their
sides without any packing. The rate of loading should be 350
kg/cm2/minute and uniform. Test should be conducted for 3 cubes and
report the average value as the test result for both 7day and 28 day
compressive strength.
Grade of
Concrete
M15
M20
M25
M30
M35
M40
M45

Minimum compressive
strength N/mm2 at 7 days
10
13.5
17
20
23.5
27
30

Specified characteristic compressive

strength (N/mm2) at 28 days
15
20
25
30
35
40
45